Local trainers hope Narooma can become a bit of boxing training destination with great facilities and soft sand to test the bodies of athletes.

Leading the squad is coach Gary Hamilton from Underground Boxing Gym at the Stockade Training Centre in Canberra.

Hamilton has brought with him the current reigning women’s 54kg world champion Aleksandra “Sasha” Kulshova, as well as Australian boxers Bianca Elmir and Mattie Schutser, both of who are training to qualify for the next Commonwealth Games.

Elmir is a three-time Australian champion and almost made to the last Olympics, while Mattie is new to world-level competition but accompanying her is her 15-year sister Mina who recently won the world junior title competing in Europe.

Also visiting Narooma this week is a Russian boxing trainer, whose son is trained by Hamilton making it to the Commonwealth Games in India.

The Narooma connection has been going on for at least 10 years and goes back to the days of Leroy Brown and boxing promoter Mark “Ziggy” Zielinski’s gym.

Hamilton and his boxers are staying with his friend and local trainer Steve Spears at his house that is equipped with a gym.

But its soft sand of the beach that is one of the main attractions because it helps develop “three-dimensional strength” with the boxing running on the soft sand and then transitioning to harder pavement.

“Just like a gymnast has better strength than bodybuilder, it’s because of they have better 3D strength,” he said.

Hamilton and the boxers will stay in Narooma through the Christmas period this week returning to Canberra on the weekend.

In addition to training, they plan on doing some sightseeing and maybe even a fishing charter.